Incumbent Tom Lamar secured his re-election to the Latah County Commission Wednesday night after election workers tallied absentee and early voting ballots, swinging the race largely in his favor.
Before the final midnight count, his opponent Gabriel Rench appeared to be in the lead. That changed quickly as election officials at the Latah County Courthouse began processing thousands of absentee ballots, all in under an hour.
Unofficial results showed Lamar collected 12,645 votes, or 62.7%, while Rench came away with 7,524 votes, or 37.3%. Latah County reported that 13,389 absentee ballots were cast, nearly half of registered voters in the county. 7,491 ballots were cast on Election Day by in-person voters.
In Idaho, absentee and early voting ballots may only be counted after the polls close at 8 p.m.
As a result, the first reports from Latah County on Election Night reflected results from those who walked into polling booths on Election Day. Those in-person votes turned out to be vastly Republican.
Earlier on Election Day, Latah County Democrats Vice-Chair David Morse stopped by the polls at the University of Idaho Student Recreation Center to see the turnout from young voters. Morse said it was good to see the amount of people who showed up to cast their ballots.
“You don’t know how your candidates will resonate, but we’re hopeful,” Morse said. “I think we put forward some very strong candidates this year.”
Before his first run for commissioner in 2014, Lamar served on the Moscow City Council for over seven years. Since 1990, he’s worked as the executive director of Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, a conservation organization and nature center in Moscow.
After the race concluded and unofficial election results were announced, Lamar admitted he was expecting to win.
“I saw the first results and said, ‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better’,” Lamar said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”
Voter turnout soared nationwide for the 2020 election, but suspense is mounting as the country awaits a final verdict in the presidential race.
“It doesn’t matter what side you’re on,” Morse said. “We’re all nervous about something.”
Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @apalermooo.